RIO WINS 2016 OLYMPIC GAMES: Obama and Chicago rebuffed by IOC. (Video)

*Rio de Janeiro won a resounding vote on Friday to stage the first Olympics in South America in 2016, rebuffing U.S. President Barack Obama, who had personally lobbied for his adopted hometown Chicago.
The decision by the International Olympic Committee in Copenhagen sparked joyful samba dancing on Rio's Copacabana beach and shocked disbelief on the streets of Chicago, which had been considered the front-runner.

Rio's victory was heralded as signaling Brazil's arrival as a major economy by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who hugged soccer great Pele and broke down in tears of joy as he celebrated a momentous victory in which he played a key role.

For Obama, it marked the loss of a politically risky gamble to bring home the Olympics. Despite a speech to the IOC by Obama, Chicago was eliminated in the first round of voting, one of the biggest shocks in an Olympic ballot.

"You can play a great game and still not win," Obama told reporters at the White House after returning from Europe.